Further Details

Title: The Best of Hard Times
Condition: New
Subtitle: Palestinian Refugee Masculinities in Lebanon
Author: Gustavo Barbosa
Format: Paperback
EAN: 9780815637233
ISBN: 9780815637233
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Genre: Society & Culture
Topic: Gender Sex & Relationships, Social Sciences, History
Release Date: 30/01/2022
Description: The Best of Hard Times explores the gendered identities of two generations of men in the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. Gustavo Barbosa compares the fida'iyyin, the men who served as freedom fighters to reconquer Palestine in the 1970s, to the shabab, their sons who lead seemingly mundane lives with limited access to power. While the fida'iyyinn displayed their masculinity through active resistance and fighting to return to their homeland, the shabab have a more nuanced relationship to Palestine and articulate their gender belonging in alternative ways.

Through vivid ethnographic stories, Barbosa critically engages with certain trends in feminism, calling attention to their limits and considering nimble views on gender. Instead of presenting the shabab as emasculated or experiencing a crisis of masculinity, the book shows the pliability of masculinity in time and space and argues that ""gender"" has limited purchase to capture the experiences of today's youth from Shatila. Based on two years of fieldwork, The Best of Hard Times answers the burgeoning demand for anthropological literature on Arab masculinities and portrays refugees as inventive actors rather than agentless victims of circumstances beyond their control. The Best of Hard Times is a tour de force combining highbrow theory with gripping ethnography, challenging many of the stereotypes on gender, power, statehood, and the role of Islam in the Middle East.
Language: English
Country/Region of Manufacture: US
Item Height: 229mm
Item Length: 152mm
Item Weight: 498g
Book Series: Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East
Release Year: 2022

Missing Information?

Please contact us if any details are missing and where possible we will add the information to our listing.